Fear of Being Forgotten
by captainbartholomew
Summary: "That's why people remember me. I'm the one that broke the brotherhood. I'm the one that was too afraid to admit if I came to you and Dean to agree to dissolve The Shield peacefully, you'd both scoff at me. I'm the one who…" "Was too afraid to face his fear of being forgotten about by everyone?"


Title: Fear of Being Forgotten

Author: captainbartholomew

Disclaimer: I don't own WWE.

Summary: "That's why people remember me. I'm the one that broke the brotherhood. I'm the one that was too afraid to admit if I came to you and Dean to agree to dissolve The Shield peacefully, you'd both scoff at me. I'm the one who…" "Was too afraid to face his fear of being forgotten about by everyone?"

Blame/Fault: Seth Rollins this is your fault. I'd say I hate you, but that would be mean of me and a lie. Please get well soon otherwise I may have to restrain caylendar from ripping her hair out...

*a/n i: This is the companion piece to caylendar's fic called "Shattered that Dream," if you have read it proceed on, if you haven't, go read it! Then come back and read this! There is also a mention of my fic "The Bonds of Brotherhood" in here, but you should be okay without reading that one. Read On…

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3121…

3122…

3123…

Could one person really count all the dots on the ceiling? Seth Rollins was certainly trying his hardest to as he lay in the uncomfortable hospital bed with his knee propped up trying to make it as comfortable as possible after surgery. The days seemed to have been passing him in a blur ever since the night of the dreaded botch from hell. He had done that move a thousand, maybe a million times and there he was attempting to do it yet again, but he had lost something in those few seconds of getting ready to do the move.

Maybe it was his balance?

Maybe it was his footing?

Maybe it was his stance?

Maybe it was Karma?

Maybe it was fate?

Whatever it had been, Seth had replayed the moment in his mind over and over again. Each time he came to a different conclusion of what he had done wrong landing him in this god forsaken hole in the wall. Triple H and Stephanie said the facility was state of the art for Superstars to go to, but the looks the power couple had given him when explaining the situation to him were not well hidden. Six to nine months of being out was what the doctors had said to him as The Authority listened closely to every word the medical staff said. Seth swore he could see a glint in Triple H's eye at one point when the doctor said if Seth wanted to ever wrestle again he'd need emergency surgery. The young Architect had realized it out in the ring before while standing there hiding from the shame and hatred of the crowd, but now the realization seemed to sweep over him once more.

His knee was just as shattered as his dream.

The pale white brick walls, overpowering smell of disinfectant, and constant silence could drive anyone insane in this place. The only noise he had heard the last several days had been the idle chatter from the nurses coming to check on him while doing their routine of checking his blood pressure, heart rate, and all that fun stuff. He could feel the pity coming off them in waves as it crashed across his body. This poor, twenty-eight year old man here alone, was having a major surgery to repair his entire knee. The nurses never said if they knew or recognized him which he was thankful for, he could just brood, sulk, and overanalyze his situation in silence until the day the doctor finally gave him the all clear to go back home to Iowa. He snorted in disgust. Iowa in the winter; he could already feel the onslaught of seasonal depression disorder coming!

Seth had refused to watch his rivals try to jump through the hoops of the tournament to get his title. Technically, he had never lost it except for that one time with Dean, but still that wasn't on the official record. He sighed, that title had caused him so many problems ever since had gotten it. Truth be told, he was actually looking forward to his bout with Roman over the stupid thing. Sure, Seth had enjoyed being champion, but eventually it took a mental toll on one's psyche. He'd read enough of the comments from people on his Twitter and Instagram pages about his injury saying that was why he had botched the move. Because the WWE was overworking him, he shrugged it off as another one of the billion possible reasons the universe had decided this was going to happen to him.

3124…

3125…

3126…

In the midst of his counting and pondering why the universe was so cruel towards him, he didn't realize there was a hulking figure sitting at the foot of his hospital bed. As Seth's eyes came back down from the ceiling deciding it was best to focus on something else other than counting dots, did he notice the person sitting there. Sure his family had been in and out all week to see him, but he hadn't expected to see this particular member here practically asleep in the chair at the foot of the bed.

"Roman?" Seth's voice cracked in surprise not really sure why his latest adversary was sitting there to begin with. Roman began to stir still looking tired even after having a little cat nap. Big men weren't meant for small hospital chairs Seth noted as he listened to Roman crack and stretch out his limbs.

"Hey Seth, how ya' feelin?" questioned the Powerhouse as he got up and pulled his chair closer to the young man as Seth frowned up at him.

"I've been better," he muttered quietly as Roman nodded in understanding, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be on tour?"

"The tour was over a few nights ago. You lost sense of time while you're in here haven't you," Roman chuckled softly, "And I'm here little brother because your family whether you like it or not. Remember Ohana?"

"Ohana means family. And family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten," answered Seth automatically recalling the last time he had heard that line uttered. It had been when Bray Wyatt had kidnapped Roman's daughter. Dean and Seth had teamed up to save her from the evil swamp hillbilly witch doctor that never stopped talking. Seth remembered that night well and how much Maya had pleaded with him to stay with her Dad and Uncle Dean. He had promised that little girl so many things and look where he had ended up. "I'll be forgotten though."

"Seth, what are you talking about?" Roman spoke in his stern older brother tone Seth had become all too familiar with back in their days of The Shield, "No one is going to forget you."

"That's easy for you to say," Seth scoffed as he crossed his arms over his torso in frustration, "You're going to be out there every week parading around in front of the fans showing them who is in charge now that I'm out of the picture. This is why I dissolved The Shield when I did, so I wouldn't be forgotten!"

Roman gave the young man a perplexed look as he tried to figure out what the hell the young man was saying, "What are you talking about?"

"You wouldn't understand," huffed Seth in anger, "You have always been the one the company wanted to push ever since we walked on the scene in FCW. Sure, the internet says I'm Hunter's favorite, but really if I hadn't gambled everything on that damn steel chair I would have been forgotten a long time ago. That's why people remember me, Roman. I'm the one that broke the brotherhood. I'm the one that was too afraid to admit if I came to you and Dean to agree to dissolve The Shield peacefully, you'd both scoff at me. I'm the one who…"

"Was too afraid to face his fear of being forgotten about by everyone?" questioned Roman as he gently grabbed Seth's arm and patted it trying to provide the young man some comfort. The Samoan knew a lot of crap had happened over the past year and a half with Seth, but maybe it was his fear which had won out more than anything. Certainly Triple H had exploited Seth's fear especially now that Roman the new so called 'Golden Boy' was going after the title. "Let me show you something?"

Seth nodded as Roman pulled an item out of his jean pocket. It was a small, gently folded up piece of paper. The large wrestler carefully unfolded it making sure not to tear it in his hands as he tried to smooth out the small amount of creases on the paper. Carefully, he handed it to Seth, who took the paper a bit skeptically. The new former World Heavyweight Champion looked down at the piece of computer paper.

On the paper there were squiggles and shapes done in crayon with a variety of colors on them. As Seth's eyes started to figure out what he was looking at, he felt a few tears well up in his eyes. On the paper stood a poorly drawn Seth Rollins holding his title next to a poorly drawn little girl. The drawing version of him still had his two toned hair while the rest him was primarily comprised of rectangles. The little girl was mostly made up of triangles. In a childlike scrawl above the drawing were the words, "Get well soon, Uncle Seth! We miss you! You will not be forgotten!" Roman would never let him live it down if he cried in front of him; however he looked over to see Roman crying too with the cheesiest smile on his face.

"Maya wanted to make you something when I called and told her you had gotten hurt," Roman said with a shrug, "Girl has such a big heart. You know she wouldn't forget about you and neither will I. And those fans out there won't either. Seth Rollins is a hard man to forget even if sometimes you did some questionable stuff. There will be a place for you on that card right on the top by me and Dean always, I expect you to be CrossFit Jesus when you come back. I get first dibs to kick your ass all over the ring!"

For the first time in what seemed forever since he'd entered the facility, Seth laughed at what his Roman's antics and smiled, "You think so?"

"I know so," Roman said as he smiled back at Seth and patted his good knee, "You're going to get out of here, train like it's nobody's business, and just when no one is looking you'll arrive on the scene getting all the women in the crowd to throw their bras at you and all the men to say 'Hell yea, Seth Rollins is back!' They won't forget you, Seth. No one is that stupid."

Seth looked down at the picture he was holding once again and smiled at it affectionately. Maybe his fear of being forgotten by the masses had caused him to do some stupid stuff, but at the same time Triple H had fed those fears every night Seth had been a member of The Authority. Now though, Hunter was not there to push Seth's insecurities to the front of his mind, Roman was there pushing the hurt from the last couple years to the nether reaches of his mind. As Seth glanced over at Roman, he noted this was the most decent conversation with the man he had in months. He had missed this, but a question was itching in the back of his mind and before he could stop he asked it.

"Where's Dean?" questioned Seth abruptly while Roman immediately shook his head looking down glumly, "Uh never mind, I shouldn't have asked."

"No," Roman spoke up suddenly, "Its' fine, you know how Dean gets when he goes after the title. He's focused and well, we decided we'd see each other in the finals of this stupid tournament when we square off for the damn thing."

Seth nodded in understanding and a bit hopeful. It seemed Roman and Dean, for now, hadn't given into The Authority's lies and promises about being champion. Maybe Seth's assumption that The Authority would slap the damn thing on whoever promised their loyalty to them first was wrong. However, Seth still had a sense of dread deep down in his gut about his brothers facing off for the belt. He really shouldn't have been listening to all that locker room gossip about Dean and Roman. Against his better judgement another sentence slipped out from Seth's mouth.

"Just be careful, I've heard things and The Authority is going to take every precaution to make sure 'A Company Man' gets the title. Watch out for Dean, Roman. I think you are going to get a visit from Hurricane Ambrose and the repercussions aren't going to be good." Seth spoke with worry.

Roman silently nodded knowing full well what Seth meant. A storm was brewing yet again between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, but this time there would be no Seth Rollins to play peacekeeper for the two Alpha males. The prize from this feud would be the biggest yet and with The Authority searching for a new 'Golden Boy' things were not going to be pretty when the dust settled in the end. Roman cleared his throat pulling Seth back from drowning in his own thoughts about the situation. The Samoan man knew his friend all too well.

"So when are you breaking out of this joint?" questioned Roman as Seth shrugged in return.

"No one gives you a direct answer around here," grumbled Seth as he tried to stifle a yawn. The damn medications the nurse had made him take earlier to curve the pain were starting to kick in. Roman noticed the pain medication was doing its' job and took that as his cue it was time to leave.

"I'm sure you'll be out of here sooner than you know," Roman said as he pushed the chair back to the spot he had found it in. He saw Seth frown again not wanting his friend to leave, "You know you can call me whenever, I know you've been tweeting in this joint so those nurses didn't take your phone."

Seth smirked and silently chuckled at Roman's accusation as the elder man put on his coat and got ready to head out the door. "Thank you for coming to visit, Roman. I'd walk you out, but well…"

Roman nodded in understanding as Seth was motioning to his other leg that was safely hung up in the air. It seemed this little visit had done a wonder for Seth's moral and had gotten the young man out of his own head for a little while. After all the horrid things that had happened in the last two weeks, Seth knew he was surely on the road to recovery with at least one person in his corner.

"Remember little brother," Roman said quickly as he departed from the room before Seth could say anymore to the other man.

Seth quickly looked down and found Roman had forgotten to take the picture Maya drawn. The Architect sighed rolling his eyes at his elder brother's forgetfulness. He found himself flipping the piece of paper over to reveal another drawing on the opposite side of the paper. In the same handwriting written in big capital letters at the top of the page was the word 'OHANA.' Right below the words was another of Maya's drawings showcasing Dean and Roman hoisting Seth into the air while he held the title high above his head. The injured wrestler smiled knowingly down at the drawing. He had a lot to accomplish in the next several months while he healed from his injury. He'd be damned if anyone forgot the name Seth Rollins in that time.

As Seth began to fade off into sleep thanks to his medication, he began a new countdown in his head instead of the usual counting of dots on the ceiling. This countdown was going to be the number of days until Payback 2016 where he'd show the world Seth Rollins had been redesigned, rebuilt, and was out for blood to reclaim not only his title, but his brothers too.

266…

265…

264…

The End

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*a/n ii: So this turned out a bit different than I expected it, I feel like I did okay on it, but there are probably a few weak areas. I felt I could have done more with the Roman/Seth relationship, but as most of you know I hate writing Roman.

And by the way harvest season is DONE! Wahoo!

Anyway, reviews are the wrestler of your choice bringing you a piece of German Chocolate Cake!


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